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Cordoire
Cordoire is the capital and largest city in Duilintinn. It stands at the edge of the Monaidh Plains, overlooking the sharp decline into the coastal region of House Schneeplestein. Since the Waldren Occupation, Cordoire has played a significant role in Duilintinn’s history and remains a political and economic center of Duilintinn to this day. Name Origin “Cordoire” roughly means “small round hill grove” based upon the “Place Names in Ireland” Wikipedia page. According to records left behind by the Waldren Trade Enterprise, the name is Feadhainn in origin. The hill upon which the city now stands had been called Cordoire long before Waldren ships arrived in the region. While Waldren did attempt to impose a new name in the common tongue, this, like most other attempts to colonize the region, failed miserably. History Feadhainn Era Prior to its construction during the Waldren Occupation from cerca. 1000 to 1500, the land where Cordoire exists today was on the outskirts of Feadhainn territory. At their peak, Feadhainn expanded all the way to the eastern sea. Most scholars believe that the hill where the castle now sits was artificially constructed during the Feadhainn Era, most likely while building a fortress in the style of a Motte and Bailey castle. However, the hill is the only remaining evidence of previous development prior to Waldren’s construction of Cordoire. During the Feadhainn Era, the Mondaidh Plains were much more forested, with its residents building their homes from the readily available lumber. Most of these structures would have rotted away long ago, or else lay buried deep beneath Cordoire’s heavy stone foundations, hence why no other evidence has been found. Waldren Occupation When the Waldren Trade Enterprise showed up everything went to crap and they built a city the end. Interim Years Waldren left a power vacuum behind after they left the region, especially in the prosperous city of Cordoire. Eventually, three major powers rose above the rest, alternating between an endless fight among themselves and sudden alliances to destroy any new threats contending for power. The well being of the people was ignored in favor of political intrigue, and for years chaos and unrest plagued the common folk. Centuries passed, and turmoil engulfed the land. Much of this conflict was centered around the city of Cordoire. Eventually, Cordoire became a key location in The Quest for Duilintinn. King Sean and his fellow adventurers had to contend with these corrupt, manipulative, and violent factions if there were to be any hope of bringing the lands together. After years of attempts at diplomacy, negotiations, and even some counter-intrigue, it became clear that these factions would prefer to hole up in Cordoire and fight amongst themselves for power forever. With the help fo the Guard Coalition, Mercenary Syndicate, Mages' Guild, and other allies who had pledged their support to rebuild the land, King Sean placed the city under siege. Despite many losses, the future king's forces eventually routed the power-hungry factions from the city. Modern Duilintinn After Duilintinn's founding, King Sean created dozens of projects to rebuild areas of the city that were torn apart by the decades of fighting during the Interim Years. This created a lot of jobs, drawing skilled laborers and craftsmen into the city and laying a foundation both for the city's structural and economic revival. Cordoire is now the capital city of Duilintinn. The city is extremely urbanized, with a large, crowded population that continues to grow to this day. However, since the Overnight Defense in 1603, some question whether or not it is safe to have so many people near one of The Enemy's largest targets. Since the reports of infiltration in late 1613 to the present (November 1614 at time of writing), these concerns have continued to spread, yet seem to have little impact on the city's rapid urbanization. Holidays are celebrated across Duilintinn, but none more spectacularly than in Cordoire. In recent years, King Sean has mobilized Cordoire’s ability to party by declaring additional monthly celebrations to raise money for charity, to great success. Administration Local Government A part of the bureaucracy in the administration district is specifically for the management of the city itself. It’s technically a branch of the national government, since Cordoire is on neutral ground and not associated with any one noble house. The individuals living within Cordoire all are either houseless or have pledged themselves to one of Duilintinn's five Noble Houses. Despite living in the city, these citizens are still under the domestic authority and care of the government of their Noble House. As a result, each Noble House has an embassy building in the city. All five Noble Houses work together to ensure that Cordoire has the infrastructure necessary to provide social services to its citizens. Officials from all five Noble Houses are sent to Cordoire with a budget of resources from their respective houses, forming a committee that ensures the infrastructure within Cordoire will allow these embassies to provide for their respective citizens. National Government Cordoire today stands as the center of Duilintinn's political world. Located on neutral territory separate from any Noble House, the city now holds King Sean's court and all other administrative buildings necessary to the bureaucracy that runs the kingdom as a whole. These buildings are also used for the governments of each Noble House to communicate among themselves as well. Defenses Well obviously there are a lot of guards from the Guard Coalition, but there are also Watchers! They have a massive presence in the city, which really annoys the coalition. (Disclaimer: The following is cut and pasted directly from my unfinished notes, terrible grammar and all.) Watcher encampments and patrols surround the city in the unaffiliated area between the city and the surrounding houses. Everyone remembers what happened when The Enemy marched upon the capital during The Overnight Defense, and no one wants a repeat event. Constant patrols from Fort Stiofán watch over the capital and the king’s castle within. Unfortunately, with The Enemy’s more recent moves against the king becoming more and more subtle, there is little these patrols can do. They might be able to fend off a direct attack, but if The Enemy decides to use his magic to infiltrate the castle, the are few among The Watch with the power to stop him. Still, these patrols keep the watch outside of the king’s city, for even the most ineffective defense is still better than giving up hope. If one wanted to hike around the city, it would take about five days. However, patrols take much longer. Each day is divided into three 8-hour shifts, and each wall of the capital is divided into 7 sections (about 4 miles each), with a permanent campsite located between every other sector. A patrol will spend two shifts patrolling sectors (one for each shift) and one shift resting and refueling at the campsite. This means that it would take a week to patrol half of the city border, and a fortnight to return back to Fort Stiofán. An example patrol might look like this: Day 1, Shift 1: Patrol A leaves Fort Stiofán to patrol the first sector of the capital. Day 1, Shift 2: Patrol B leaves Fort Stiofán and relieves Patrol A from the first sector. Patrol A moves on to the second sector. Day 1, Shift 3: Patrol C leaves Fort Stiofán and relieves Patrol B from the first sector. Patrol B leaves the first sector and relieves Patrol A from the second sector. Patrol A goes to rest at the campsite between the second and third sector. Day 2, Shift 1: Patrol D leaves Fort Stiofán and relieves Patrol C from the first sector. Patrol C leaves the first sector and relieves Patrol B from the second sector. Patrol B arrives at the campsite between the second and third sector to rest, allowing Patrol A to move on to the third sector. Notice how a patrol will not move on to the next sector/campsite until the next patrol arrives to relieve them. This ensures that no part of the city border remains unprotected. While the patrol from Fort Stiofán will always leave at the exact same time each shift, this domino effect of shifting patrols will mean that the time a “shift” begins and ends will become later and later as a patrol migrates around the city. The time of each shift is not nearly as important as the assurance that there is always a patrol at every sector of the city wall. When the patrol at the final sector of the city is finally able to return to Fort Stiofán, each sector will have been filled with a new patrol. The departing patrol will then rest a week at the fort, then move out to the first sector once again. As a result, we know that Fort Stiofán keeps up at least 42 active patrols, and likely more in case a patrol is incapacitated. Geography Topography Plains, moat, hill Climate The standard climate of the Monaidh Plains and House Jackie. Dry summers and snow winters. Humidity? Never heard of her. Natural History (Disclaimer: The following is cut and pasted directly from my unfinished notes, terrible grammar and all.) Used to be trees. Now no more trees. There’s a river but Waldren diverted part of it into a moat. Moat does not enjoy being a moat and we have to do a lot of maintenance to keep it in the moat shape. Research has been done into how on earth Feadhainn diverted the Agrona River in order to make this easier, but to only minimal success. Districts The Slums On the outskirts of Cordoire, just outside the city walls, slums and shantytowns have cropped up all along the buffer zone between the capital and other houses. Since the capital is one of the only areas in the kingdom not affiliated with a specific house, many houseless people live in or around the capital city. Refugees who fled to Duilintinn from other lands or who lost their homes to The Enemy and fled to the capital would probably group up with others similar to them. For example, if a large group of oppressed people from a foreign land sought shelter in King Sean’s Kingdom, they might all clump around the same area of slums outside of the capital walls. Another cluster of hovels might exclusively house a gang of orphans. Still another might be full of people ostracized or exiled from their communities for whatever reason and harbor a grudge. Etc. Etc. Etc. The king and his court are aware of these slums, and numerous programs have been proposed to aid these refugees and houseless people to find new homes. However, any action they take is immediately hindered by the house-based system of records within the kingdom. Since all records of individual citizens are collected and kept by their house, if someone doesn’t have a house, they are effectively invisible in the eyes of the government. It’s nearly impossible for a government to help a group of people that they don’t have any official records of. Therefore, the first step towards helping the people clustered in these slums would be to find them a house, but many of the refugees clustered around the edge of the city have no desire to leave. For some, this is good enough in comparison to what they faced in their old situation. For others, they’ve never known anything else and can’t face that change. For still others, a feeling of bitterness or cynicism towards the house system and the ways it might have failed or abandoned them keeps them stubbornly insisting on remaining houseless. It’s a tough problem to solve, and until a solution is found, the slums and shantytowns surrounding the outer border of the capital city will remain as a sobering reminder that, no matter how legendary you are, you can’t save everyone. Craftsmen's District Moving closer to the city gates and into the city itself, this district immediately within the walls and adjacent to the major roads are full of workshops and smaller, middle-class homes, often above their shops. This is known as the Craftsmen’s District. Craftsmen would set up shop both inside and outside the capital walls. Craftsmen want business, and by setting up outside of the capital walls, they’re that much more accessible to people who might purchase their goods. Craftsmen outside of the city walls are able to build separate homes due to the extra space, but within the city, craftsmen usually live in a room above their shop. There’s not much to explain about this particular fact; there’s just less room in the main city. Also, it isn’t always easy to get the right to sell goods within the city, while outside is fairly free of regulations. However, this can also be a disadvantage, especially when those living in the slums grow desperate. If you look at the map, you’ll see that the craftsmen located outside of the capital are clustered around the roads to House Brody and Fort Stiofán. This is not a coincidence. House Brody contains few craftsmen; they harvest and distribute most of the kingdom’s natural resources, rather than create with them. Therefore, they will be the most in need of tools made outside of their borders. The same goes for Fort Stiofán. While every garrison of The Watch seeks to be self-sufficient, this isn’t always feasible. After all, the garrisons are full of Watchers, and Watchers normally volunteer because they want to… well… WATCH. Some of them have skills like artistry or carpentry and the like, but if The Watch is going to supply all of their volunteers and members, they’ll usually need some outside help from the capital craftsmen. Central Market The Market is in the middle. The central market area of Cordoire is likely dug somewhat into the hill to make a big amphitheater, just like the centers of all the other towns, only it is set INTO the ground rather than rising out of it which is COOOOOLLL. Plus, it’s less of an eyesore. Instead of having a massive bulky structure rising up out of the center of Cordoire, you’ve got this lower wall (probably surrounded by market stalls) that isolates the amphitheater from the chaos of the marketplace as stairs continue down into the center. Wealthy District Wealthy District is right next to the market to the north and is full of wealthy fancy houses. Administrative District Administration is right next to the market to the south and is full of government buildings and the castle. Architecture (Disclaimer: The following is cut and pasted directly from my unfinished notes, terrible grammar and all.) City layouts built during the Waldren Occupation rare a remarkably organized grid layout. The capital would be this type of architecture, though it was expanded early in sean's reign and they had to figure out how to copy the look ™ which was awkward. So more like just the central buildings and castle. Castle is big and shiny and white like the castle in merlin but I CAN’T FIND THE PICTURE. Also it's on a hill. Interestingly, the marketplace is in a Feadhainn style with a lowered amphitheater. With the resurgence of Feadhainn's traditional amphitheaters as a cultural staple in other regions of Duilintinn, most cities built with architecture from the Waldren Occupation would build raised amphitheaters on the edges of their cities. However, King Sean specifically commissioned an intense construction project in while rebuilding Cordoire to add an amphitheater to the central marketplace in the traditional lowered style. The best example I have for this amphitheater layout is this floor plan of a basketball stadium. The entry points are at ground level, yet the stadium itself has a lower floor that’s dug into the ground. This automatically means that the architectural work is simpler. You only have to do the math for one layer of stairs/seats, while the ground will ensure that the other ones don’t cave in. Economy Cordoire is also a major economic hub of Duilintinn, second only to Fionport in House Schneeplestein. From its central geographic location, Cordoire hosts the annual Trade Season and facilitates inter-house trade through the efforts of its local guilds and national government. In addition, Cordoire does have a small amount of agricultural output. Farms dot the landscape of the region between the city proper and the houses surrounding the area. Many people who live in the capital might be farmers by trade who, for whatever reason, decided to move to the city. Other farms could stem from the group efforts of people in shantytowns trying to get back on their feet. Small gardens can be found at most patrol campsites for resting Watchers to tend and eat from. Guild Presence Every guild in Duilintinn has some sort of presence in the capital city, but only three specific guilds call Cordoire their central city of operations: The Fellowship of Thieves, The Merchant’s Guild, and a variety of Craftsmen’s Guilds. The Fellowship of Thieves (guild of the underworld in Duilintinn) is intentionally not called a “guild” because of its origins in the slums of Cordoire. This fellowship was founded by the houseless poor in the slums outside the capital as a way to protect their own as they did what was necessary to survive. To this day, this guild avoids being associated with the structures of government and economy in Duilintinn. The hub is located in the swath of land outside the city walls. The Merchant’s Guild can be found on the northwestern edge of Cordoire’s central square, between the market and the wealthy district. In addition to serving the interests of bankers, entrepreneurs, middlemen, traders, etc. within Duilintinn, it also manages the political-economic negotiations for the annual Trading Season in the month of July. The Merchant’s Guild is also responsible for the creation of Duilintinn’s currency, with a mint immediately adjacent to the guild’s main building. While there is no singular “Craftsmen’s Guild,” a wide variety of guilds for various crafts can be found clustered together in the southwestern district of Cordoire, aptly named the “Craftsmen’s District.” In addition to their primary roles, these guilds will come together each year to coordinate the logistical preparations for July’s Trading Season, specifically regarding hospitality and the myriad of traditional events between Duilintinn’s craftsmen and their foreign counterparts, who share a strong sense of camaraderie after years of annual cooperation. Outside Commerce See More: Trade Season Traders visiting Duilintinn usually will stay during the summer months due to the kingdom’s tendency to have harsh winters and milder summers, especially in the sweet spot where the arid plains of House Jackie and the cooler winds of the mountains and coast meet at the capital. Not only is the capital is a central hub of the kingdom, but it is a mere three days ride by cart from the coast. This makes it the perfect place for traders to hawk their wares to the kingdom as a whole. Unfortunately, House Jameson and House Marvin are too far away to reach by carts laden with goods. However, it's common for citizens to take trips to the capital during the summer months to see what goods the traders have to offer. In addition, many enterprising businessmen and women will buy goods from the traders, travel to far corners of the kingdom, and sell them for a profit. It’s a bit more expensive, but if you can't travel, it’s your best bet. During their stay, these traders will pitch small shelters outside the city walls that function as both living spaces and temporary storefronts. Those traders lucky enough to get official permission from the kingdom will be allowed to set up shop within the city walls, but the land along the main road up to the gate is open to any wishing to sell their wares. Though the map labels the blue areas as “traders,” these are also areas where craftsmen would normally set up shop. During the summer months when the traders come to the capital, local craftsmen will gladly share their homes, shops, and storefronts with the newcomers, even if they have tents or makeshift shelters of their own. It’s good business to offer a trader to share your storefront for the season because it brings people eager for foreign goods into your store as well. Even if they don’t buy anything, they might remember you as the nice craftsman who allowed a trader to stay at his shop. There's no underlying hostility or competition between the traders and the craftsmen, and the opportunity to learn from someone new and make friends in your field is celebrated along with the rest of the holiday. Category:Messy Page